Cantonese or Mandarin?

[Strawberry]

My family is Chinese (Cantonese) so I can speak Cantonese. I'm not sure what you would call fluent but I can have conversations or answer most questions. Although I cannot read or write. When I was younger, I attended Chinese school and I was switched from Mandarin to Cantonese and the other way around a few times but then I quit. I am wanting to go to back to Chinese school but which would be better for me to study? Mandarin or Cantonese? I can read and write numbers from 1-99 and I recognize a few characters such as small, big, person, sky, ect. so would it take a long time for me to learn to read and write and advance my speaking skills? I heard Mandarin was easier to learn and I am wanting to learn both but which should I start with? Since I can already understand Cantonese and very very few of Mandarin.

[Hofmann]

Well, first, I recommend against going to a Chinese school. Cantonese or Mandarin...it depends on what you want to do. With your prior knowledge, Cantonese will definitely be easier, but even without prior knowledge, they both can be considered the same difficulty. Note, however, that learning resources are more plentiful in Mandarin. That is not to say that Cantonese learning resources are lacking.

[skylee]

I think, as you can already speak and understand Cantonese, you could learn Mandarin. In the process you will learn to read and write Chinese characters, which are the same for Mandarin and Cantonese (with some differences, and of course you will find that there are more differences in grammar).

Mandarin is easier in terms of pronunciation (it has four tones, whereas there are 6 (or 9, depending on which theory you like) tones in Cantonese), I think. As you can already speak Cantonese I think this is not a very important factor. But there are more people in the world who speak Mandarin than Cantonese-speaking people, which is a more important factor for consideration.

From what you described your level of writing / reading skills is very low. You will need to spend plenty of efforts on learning the language.

[renzhe]

Sounds like reading and writing is your main hurdle.

Keep in mind that standard written vernacular closely follows Mandarin grammar and vocabulary. This means that if you learn to read and write Chinese, you will already learn much of Mandarin grammar and vocabulary in the process. Most Chinese, whether native speakers of Cantonese, Mandarin, Wu, or any other dialect, will use this standard way of writing.

I'd suggest learning this, and then it's up to you whether you learn the Mandarin pronunciation at the same time, or later. As already pointed out, knowing Mandarin is a useful skill to have. But, depending on what your personal goals are, you might want to concentrate on improving your spoken Cantonese (perhaps with some immersion programme or lots of Hong Kong TV shows) while learning to read and write the standard vernacular.

[xiaotao]

I have Cantonese origins so I know what you mean. I took a one class of Mandarin years ago and the rest I learned on and off again on my own. The Cantonese background really helps the Mandarin learning. Once you get learn the pinyin or zhuyin, then you can easily teach yourself. I find that most Cantonese people understand Mandarin, I am able to to communicate with people in Mandarin even though my tones may be off a bit, but there's so many dialects in China. The most important thing is that they understand you.

[Shi Tong]

I'm pretty sure they use Tradtional Chinese characters in Hong Kong, right?

You'll also have to consider this.

Remember that traditional characters are not as widely used, though if you learn traditional characters, IMO, if you want to learn simplified later, it's easier.

As for what to speak and hear, if you're fluent in Cantonese, IMO, learn Mandarin and learn to write and read at the same time-- this means you can start from the bottom and work your way up without getting bored with the speaking and listening, which you'd already know in Cantonese.

[chrix]

The OP didn't seem to be particularly concerned with the choice of scripts. Be that as it may, many immigrant communities in North America still use traditional, though in recent years there has been some transition going on. But if the OP really went back to Chinese school, the choice wouldn't be hers in any case.

[Shi Tong]

Why is that a problem?

I thought it might be of help.

[imron]

though if you learn traditional characters, IMO, if you want to learn simplified later, it's easier.

From what I've seen and heard and experienced, once you've learned one, it's not all that difficult to learn the other, regardless of which one you learned first. People who learned traditional first tend to say it's easier to do it this way, and people who learned simplified first tend to say it's easier to do it the other way. Six of one, half a dozen of the other really.